Going 3

For a business to turn 3 doesn’t really seem like a big deal, but for any F&B business to get to this landmark might be regarded as pleasantly admirable. In light of the competitive F&B landscape of Singapore, as well as the ever growing scene of cafes and coffee roasters on the island, we take heart that we are continuing to serve many with the delicious coffees that we roll out from our little roasting machine in the shop. Looking back at some of the major milestones, eg. connecting with our very first direct farm relationship with the good folks of Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza of Brazil in our 1st few months of operation, expanding our direct sourcing to include Colombia and the expansion of our retail and roasting space in year two, we feel like we have come an incredibly long journey. Coming up to three, we will continue to push ourselves both in the realms of sourcing and roasting as well as brewing. 

A photo posted by Nylon Coffee Roasters (@nyloncoffee) on Feb 25, 2015 at 4:27pm PST

Earlier this year, we headed to the region of Huehuetenango in Guatemala hoping to get our hands on some excellent tasting coffees from this country. Things are moving a little slower than what was planned due to the later harvest in this country compared to its Central American neighbours who have mostly completely their harvests by the end of February/early March. We will definitely keep you posted in time to come.

A photo posted by Nylon Coffee Roasters (@nyloncoffee) on Jan 21, 2015 at 3:59am PST

Last year, we also started to tweak our approach to roasting to incorporate some new ideas and experiments that we have been discussing for a while. Some of you who dropped by to buy coffees will probably have heard us explaining that you can also try to pull shots using our coffees showcased for filters and vice versa. This is a reflection of how we grew in our role as roasters. We found that roasts that are too light might result in coffees tasting under-developed, lacking flavours and sweetness. We have come to understand our roasting machine better and we feel more confident of roasting in a way that nicely develop the coffees without adding any unpleasant roast character but still light enough to preserve the subtle nuances of that coffee. That said, we are still differentiating our retail bags as black and white based on what we feel our customers might enjoy better as an espresso-based coffee or filter coffee.

A photo posted by Nylon Coffee Roasters (@nyloncoffee) on Jan 30, 2015 at 6:00pm PST

Since 2014, a few members of our team have also started to participate in competitions, throwdowns and also judging, to continuously keep ourselves abreast of the skills and knowledge. We are firm believers that competitions pushes innovation and brings out creativity,. These experiences allow us to serve you better, not only in terms of the coffee, but equally important, the overall experience that you will have in Nylon. We also feel strongly that we need to contribute to the specialty coffee industry as a whole by being part of it.

As part of our 3rd anniversary, we have planned a couple of events starting off with our usual annual big celebration on 1 May 2015. We want to continue our efforts that we have started with charity: water since Year 1, which have shown us that every little effort will make a difference to the community of Kimbamba in Rwanda. We did even better in Year 2, but we know it doesn’t end there. Few days ago, the world witness another tragic disaster when a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal and the people need our help now. This Friday, we will serve coffee FREE from 9am - 6pm! In return, we humbly ask for your support towards our cause. On top of your kind donations, we have lined up a limited run of tees and tote bags* for sale to help raise even more funds for those in need. This is the 1st merchandise run that we have done in our short history but we promise that you will not be disappointed.

Mark your dates and we’ll see you down on 1 May 2015!

*All profits from the sale of tees & totes will go towards the fund.

Ethiopia Wote

The last Ethiopian coffee, Wottona Bultuma, was so well-received and went off the rack so quickly that some of our regulars only managed to get their hands on a bag. For those who didn’t get to try this lovely Ethiopian coffee, don’t despair. We have another new one to fill up its slot on the rack.

This specific coffee is from a private wetmill in the local community of Wote, owned by Mr Megaya. The coffee is from an area with a lot of competition among the private producers and cooperatives. Mr. Mergaya have spent the last years to improve the preparation and processing of the coffees to meet the quality standards of the high end coffee market. The coffee from this wetmill is limited in amounts and the highest qualities are now exclusively sold through our partner, Nordic Approach.

Yirgacheffe is known for its clean, floral and acidity-driven washed coffees. There are mainly small family plots of both recently planted trees of improved varietals and traditional old varieties. Organic fertilizer is common, pruning less common.

• Wetmill: Wote
• Producer: Mr. Mergya
• Zone: Gedeo, Yirgacheffe
• Woreda/Local municipality: Wote
• Altitude: Coffee grown at 1800 - 2000 masl
• Producers: About 600 smallholders in the surrounding areas as well asremote farmers.
• Varietals: Ethiopian Heirloom. Improved varietals and native coffee forest origin transferred to family smallholder plots and gardens. In this case they refer to it as Yirgacheffe type.
• Production: Pulped and wet fermented, graded in washing channels, soakedin water and sun-dried.
• Process: Cherries are hand sorted for unripes and overripes by thefarmers before they go in to production. A 3 disc Aagaarde pulper removes the skin and pulp.The coffees are then fermented under water for 24-36 hours, dependent on the weather conditions. It’s then graded in washing channels in to two grades based on density. It is then soaked under clean water in tanks for 12-25 hours.
• Drying: Sun dried 10 – 15 days days on African drying beds on hessian cloths. Coffees are covered in plastic during midday and at night.

This coffee is incredibly clean with highlights of some classic “Yirgacheffe” flavours: citric notes, bergamot, sweet spice and black tea. As it cools, berry flavours become more pronounced and floral overtones linger in the back. This cup has great intensity and yet balanced in a way to make it an enjoyable filter brew. 

Available at S$18.50 (250g) in store and online.

Kenya Karinga

Karinga is the last of the Kenyans before the new harvest arrives at our doors in a couple of months time. This coffee exemplifies why Kenyan coffee remains one of the few coffee origins that are highly sought after. A classic Kenyan profile encompasses bundles of fruit notes (blackcurrants, berries) with a solid body. Karinga showcases these attributes so aptly that having a brew of this coffee is such an enjoyment.

The Karinga Coffee Factory (wetmill) is located in Kirinyaga in the Central Province of Kenya. It is affiliated to the Gitwe Farmers Co-operative Society, consisting of around 600 farmers. The factory is sur­rounded by tea-growing zones. Most of farmers are tea-growing people, thus most of them tend to grow more tea than coffee. But the management is now encouraging farmers to go back to their farms because the price of coffee cherries is going up.

The affiliate members ofthe factory carry out all agronomic activ­ities associated with coffeeproduction i.e. they source coffee from the Coffee Research Station and plantit according to the stipulat­ed guidelines. Fieldwork carried out involves weeding, pruning, spraying, application of fertilizer, mulching and technical advice. Technical advice is offered through farmer training pro­grams and field visits/days offered by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Compliance to the agreed guidelines is checked and supervised by the field committee which goes round the farms. They usually check that coffee is not inter-grown with other crops such as maize, though they do allow inter-cropping with macadamia.

In this cup, get captivated by the floral aroma, followed by a cascade of red berries and blackcurrants. There are subtle hints of floral overtones in the finish that softens the fruit forward acidity. The silky mouthfeel further complements this complex yet structured finish.

• Producers: ~ 600 smallholders in the surrounding areas deliver cherries to the wetmill.
• Wetmill: Karinga
• Region: Kirinyaga, Kenya
• Varietal: SL 28, SL 34 (99%) and Ruiru 11 (1%)
• Altitude: 1850 m asl
• Processing: All coffees are pulped, dry fermented, washed, soaked and sun-dried. Cherries are hand-sorted for unripes and overripes by the farmers before they go in to production. A disc pulping machine removes the skin and pulp. The coffees are graded by density in to 3 grades by the pulper. Grade 1 and 2 go separately to fermentation. Grade 3 is considered low grade. The coffee is fermented for 16-24 hours under closed shade. After fermentation the coffees are washed and again graded by density in washing channels and are then soaked under clean water for 16-18 hours. The coffee is then sun-dried for up to 21 days on African drying beds. Coffees are covered in plastic during midday and at night. 

New Coffees

These 2 weeks are all about new coffees. First, we rolled out the latest iteration of the Four Chairs seasonal espresso blend. Next up, we present not one, but 2 new coffees!

The first new coffee is from Finca Villa Rica. This farm is situated in a region called Cauca in Colombia. For those who have read our blog post on theorigin trip to Colombia last year, you might recall that this is the small lot which won 2nd place in the Best Cup Cauca competition and the same coffee that Dennis used for his barista competition back in Jan. We visited the producer, Richard Olmedo Claros and his wife back then and wewere truly humbled by the way they managed to produced such quality coffeeswith such little resources. Richard literally rushed back to meet the group of coffee buyers in his humble abode upon hearing that his coffee came in 2nd in competition. When he found out the final bid for his coffee - US$6.6/pound, tears welled in his eyes. In our modern society of the developed world, it’s hard for many to understand how such amounts that might not seem much to some can actually be life-changing for others like Richard. His coffee has so much potential and we are sure that with more investment put into enhancing the processing of the coffee, they can only get better!

This coffee is loaded with sweetness. Plums and raisins followed by chocolate, cherry cola and black tea notes in the finish. The silky mouthfeel and incredibly clean cup characteristic enhances the flavours, resulting in a superbly balanced cup.

• Farm: Villa Rica
• Producer: Richard Olmedo Claros
• Region: Caldono, Cauca, Colombia
• Dry Mill: Banexport
• Varietal: Castillo
• Altitude: 1530m así
• Processing: The cherries goes through 14-15 hours of dry fermentation in pulp, followed by 4-5 washes in tanks to completely remove any remaining mucilage. The coffee is then dried on parabolic drying beds for 8-16 days depending on weather.

The second new coffee is from a country which we just visited a month ago, El Salvador. Finca Mi Tierrais located in the canton of La Montañita, Chalchuapa, Department of Santa Ana in the well-known Cordillera Apaneca-Ilamatepeque. This farm is owned by the Gamero Interiano family for over three generations. The family is aware of the demand for specialty coffee in El Salvador, hence they only use the best agricultural practices for the maintenance of Finca Mi Tierra. During the cherry harvest period, more than 90 highly qualified individuals are responsible for picking the best beans in addition to the 45 permanent employees who work on the farm. The average age of the plantation is over 35 years, comprising mainly of Red Bourbon (85%), a small amount of Typica (10%) and Maragogype (5%). Once harvested, the coffee cherries are delivered immediately to Beneficio Tuxpal.

We first cupped this coffee last year when we visited Beneficio Tuxpal. The pleasant acidity caught our attention. Federico Pacas from Beneficio Tuxpal explained that he had only started working with Finca Mi Tierra recently. With the high standards of processing done by Beneficio Tuxpal, the coffee from Finca Mi Tierra shines through with lots of potential.

As an espresso, the cup displays notes of dried fruits and raisins with overtones of sweet spice. Lush creamy mouthfeel ending off with walnuts and dark chocolate in the finish. We think this could well be another crowd pleaser for those looking for an everyday cup.

• Farm: Mi Tierra
• Producer: Gamero Interiano family
• Region: Chalchuapa, Santa Ana, El Salvador
• Dry Mill: Beneficio Tuxpal
• Varietal: Mainly Red Bourbon, with traces of Typica
• Altitude: 1200-1450m asl
• Processing: Washed and dried in the sun for approximately 12 days. 

Both these coffees are available both in store and on web. Grab a bag to try and let us know what you think!

Rwanda Project

On our 1st anniversary back in 2013, we raised a total of SGD$3947.80 for charity: water towards a new clean water project in Rwanda. Last week, we were updated that the piped water project to bring clean water to 252 people is finally completed!

Thank you again for your amazing support and we hope to make a bigger difference again come May when we turn 3!